Systems and methods for assessing security risks of users of computer networks of organizations

ABSTRACT

The disclosed computer-implemented method for assessing security risks of users of computer networks of organizations may include (i) detecting, at a risk computing device, a location of a host electronically accessed by a user computing device, the host location having an electronic address outside of a computer network of an organization, (ii) identifying, at the risk computing device, a host user credential sent to the host location from the user computing device, (iii) determining, at the risk computing device, that the host user credential matches an organization user credential associated with the organization&#39;s computer network, and (iv) calculating, at the risk computing device, a risk score for a user of the user computing device based on the determination that the host user credential matches the organization user credential. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.

BACKGROUND

Individuals and organizations increasingly utilize software and servicesthat are accessed over a network. Often, users reuse credentials, suchas usernames and passwords, or the credentials of other users toregister with multiple online domains. Such reuse of credentials can putusers and organizations at risk. For example, user credentials used atone domain may be discovered by a malicious party that uses thecredentials to access other domains, including domains containingprivate information and accounts for the users.

Frequently, users within an organization reuse their organizationcredentials to log into web domains that are not associated with theorganization, putting organization accounts at increased risk of accessby unauthorized parties. Such unauthorized access to organizationaccounts may be costly and time-consuming to address. Additionally,sensitive information from within organizations may be obtained andutilized by malicious parties, resulting in unrecoverable losses to theorganizations. The instant disclosure, therefore, identifies andaddresses a need for systems and methods for assessing security risks ofusers of computer networks of organizations.

SUMMARY

As will be described in greater detail below, the instant disclosuredescribes various systems and methods for assessing security risks ofusers of computer networks of organizations.

In one example, a computer-implemented method for assessing securityrisks of users of computer networks of organizations may include (i)detecting, at a risk computing device, a location of a hostelectronically accessed by a user computing device, the host locationhaving an electronic address outside of a computer network of anorganization, (ii) identifying, at the risk computing device, a hostuser credential sent to the host location from the user computingdevice, (iii) determining, at the risk computing device, that the hostuser credential matches an organization user credential associated withthe organization's computer network, and (iv) calculating, at the riskcomputing device, a risk score for a user of the user computing devicebased on the determination that the host user credential matches theorganization user credential.

In at least one embodiment, the organization user credential may includeat least one of an email address, a password, a user identifier, anorganization identifier; a public key infrastructure certificate; atoken; and a personal identification number. Detecting the location ofthe host may further include detecting, at the risk computing device, auniform resource locator (URL) for the host location. Detecting thelocation of the host may further include detecting, at the riskcomputing device, a hostname for the URL. The computer-implementedmethod may additionally include determining, at the risk computingdevice, that the user was logged onto the user computing device when thehost location was electronically accessed by the user computing device.The computer-implemented method may further include determining, at therisk computing device, that the user was logged into a web gateway ofthe organization's computer network when the host location waselectronically accessed by the user computing device.

In some embodiments, the computer-implemented method may also includedetermining, at the risk computing device, that the organization usercredential is associated with the user. The computer-implemented methodmay further include determining, at the risk computing device, that theorganization user credential is associated with an additional user. Thecomputer-implemented method may additionally include (i) detecting, atthe risk computing device, a location of an additional hostelectronically accessed by the user computing device, the additionalhost location having an electronic address outside of the organization'scomputer network, and (ii) determining, at the risk computing device,that the host user credential was sent to the additional host locationfrom the user computing device.

In one embodiment, the computer-implemented method may additionallyinclude (i) determining, at the risk computing device, that the hostlocation was electronically accessed by an additional user computingdevice, (ii) identifying, at the risk computing device, an additionalhost user credential sent to the host location from the additional usercomputing device, and (iii) determining, at the risk computing device,that the additional host user credential matches an additionalorganization user credential associated with the organization's computernetwork. The computer-implemented method may further includecalculating, at the risk computing device, a risk score for the hostlocation. The computer-implemented method may also include determining,at the risk computing device, a type of credential corresponding to theorganization user credential, wherein calculating the risk score for theuser further includes utilizing a weight corresponding the type ofcredential.

In at least one embodiment, calculating the risk score for the user mayfurther include utilizing a weight that is based on a determination of anumber of host user credentials sent to the host location from the usercomputing device, each of the determined number of host user credentialscorresponding to a separate organization user credential. Identifyingthe host user credential sent to the host location may also includeidentifying the host user credential in a query parameter at a URL forthe host location. Identifying the host user credential sent to the hostlocation may additionally include identifying the host user credentialin a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) request header. Identifying thehost user credential sent to the host location may also includedecrypting information sent from the user computing device to the hostlocation. In at least one embodiment, the computer-implemented methodmay include determining, at the risk computing device, that the userpresents a security risk to the organization's computer network based onthe risk score. Additionally, the computer-implemented method mayinclude performing, at the risk computing device, a security action toprotect the organization's computer network based on the determinationthat the user presents a security risk to the organization's computernetwork.

In one embodiment, a system for assessing security risks of users ofcomputer networks of organizations may include several modules stored inmemory, including (i) a detection module, stored in memory, thatdetects, at a risk computing device, a location of a host electronicallyaccessed by a user computing device, the host location having anelectronic address outside of a computer network of an organization,(ii) an identification module, stored in memory, that identifies, at therisk computing device, a host user credential sent to the host locationfrom the user computing device, (iii) a determination module, stored inmemory, that determines, at the risk computing device, that the hostuser credential matches an organization user credential associated withthe organization's computer network, (iv) a calculation module, storedin memory, that calculates, at the risk computing device, a risk scorefor a user of the user computing device based on the determination thatthe host user credential matches the organization user credential, and(v) at least one physical processor that executes the detection module,the identification module, the determination module, and the calculationmodule.

In some examples, the above-described method may be encoded ascomputer-readable instructions on a non-transitory computer-readablemedium. For example, a computer-readable medium may include one or morecomputer-executable instructions that, when executed by at least oneprocessor of a computing device, may cause the computing device to (i)detect, at a risk computing device, a location of a host electronicallyaccessed by a user computing device, the host location having anelectronic address outside of a computer network of an organization,(ii) identify, at the risk computing device, a host user credential sentto the host location from the user computing device, (iii) determine, atthe risk computing device, that the host user credential matches anorganization user credential associated with the organization's computernetwork, and (iv) calculate, at the risk computing device, a risk scorefor a user of the user computing device based on the determination thatthe host user credential matches the organization user credential.

Features from any of the above-mentioned embodiments may be used incombination with one another in accordance with the general principlesdescribed herein. These and other embodiments, features, and advantageswill be more fully understood upon reading the following detaileddescription in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and claims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The accompanying drawings illustrate a number of example embodiments andare a part of the specification. Together with the followingdescription, these drawings demonstrate and explain various principlesof the instant disclosure.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system for assessing securityrisks of users of computer networks of organizations.

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of an additional example system for assessingsecurity risks of users of computer networks of organizations.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example method for assessing securityrisks of users of computer networks of organizations.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating example risk analysis datautilized for assessing security risks of users of computer networks oforganizations.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example computing system capable ofimplementing one or more of the embodiments described and/or illustratedherein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example computing network capable ofimplementing one or more of the embodiments described and/or illustratedherein.

Throughout the drawings, identical reference characters and descriptionsindicate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. While theexample embodiments described herein are susceptible to variousmodifications and alternative forms, specific embodiments have beenshown by way of example in the drawings and will be described in detailherein. However, the example embodiments described herein are notintended to be limited to the particular forms disclosed. Rather, theinstant disclosure covers all modifications, equivalents, andalternatives falling within the scope of the appended claims.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EXAMPLE EMBODIMENTS

The present disclosure is generally directed to systems and methods forassessing security risks of users of computer networks of organizations.As will be explained in greater detail below, the systems and methodsdescribed herein may analyze interactions by organization users withhost locations, such as domains, outside of the organization. Theinteractions may be analyzed to identify intra-party and inter-partyreuse of organization credentials by the organization users and togenerate risk scores for the organization users and/or for theorganization. The risk scores may be used to determine users in theorganization that present an increased risk to the organization.Policy-based corrective security measures may be taken to addresshigher-risk users in the organization, thereby preventing loss ofsensitive data and increasing the security of the organization as awhole while directing resources to the users that present greatest risk.

The following will provide, with reference to FIGS. 1-2, detaileddescriptions of example systems for assessing security risks of users ofcomputer networks of organizations. Detailed descriptions ofcorresponding computer-implemented methods will also be provided inconnection with FIG. 3. Detailed descriptions of example risk analysisdata that is used for assessing security risks of users of computernetworks of organizations will be provided in connection with FIG. 4. Inaddition, detailed descriptions of an example computing system andnetwork architecture capable of implementing one or more of theembodiments described herein will be provided in connection with FIGS. 5and 6, respectively.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an example system 100 for assessingsecurity risks of users of computer networks of organizations. Asillustrated in this figure, example system 100 may include one or moremodules 102 for performing one or more tasks. For example, and as willbe explained in greater detail below, example system 100 may include adetection module 104 that detects a location of a host electronicallyaccessed by a user computing device, the host location having anelectronic address outside of a computer network of an organization.Example system 100 may also include an identification module 106 thatidentifies a host user credential sent to the host location from theuser computing device. Example system 100 may additionally include adetermination module 108 that determines that the host user credentialmatches an organization user credential associated with theorganization's computer network. Example system 100 may also include acalculation module 110 that calculates a risk score for a user of theuser computing device based on the determination that the host usercredential matches the organization user credential. Additionally,example system 100 may also include a security module 112 that performsa security action to protect the organization's computer network basedon a determination that the user presents a security risk to theorganization's computer network. Although illustrated as separateelements, one or more of modules 102 in FIG. 1 may represent portions ofa single module or application.

The term “security action,” as used herein, generally refers to one ormore actions the systems described herein may take after determiningthat a user and/or a location, such as a URL and/or domain, presents asecurity risk to the organization's computer network. For example,security actions may include, without limitation, preventing a user fromaccessing the organization's computer network for at least a specifiedperiod of time, warning the user and/or an administrator about theincreased security risk presented by the user's activities, increasingmonitoring of user activities, limiting and/or blocking the user'saccess to locations, such as URLs and/or domains external to theorganization's computer network, changing one or more organization usercredentials for the user, and/or increasing a risk score and/or profilefor an organization associated with the organization's computer network.In addition, the systems described herein may perform a security actionon locations external to the organization's computer network. Forexample, the systems described herein may blacklist URLs and/or domains,such as URLs and/or domains having a risk score exceeding apredetermined threshold.

In certain embodiments, one or more of modules 102 in FIG. 1 mayrepresent one or more software applications or programs that, whenexecuted by a computing device, may cause the computing device toperform one or more tasks. For example, and as will be described ingreater detail below, one or more of modules 102 may represent modulesstored and configured to run on one or more computing devices, such asthe devices illustrated in FIG. 2 (e.g., server 202, user computingdevice 212, and/or user computing device 214). One or more of modules102 in FIG. 1 may also represent all or portions of one or morespecial-purpose computers configured to perform one or more tasks.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, example system 100 may also include one ormore memory devices, such as memory 140. Memory 140 generally representsany type or form of volatile or non-volatile storage device or mediumcapable of storing data and/or computer-readable instructions. In oneexample, memory 140 may store, load, and/or maintain one or more ofmodules 102. Examples of memory 140 include, without limitation, RandomAccess Memory (RAM), Read Only Memory (ROM), flash memory, Hard DiskDrives (HDDs), Solid-State Drives (SSDs), optical disk drives, caches,variations or combinations of one or more of the same, and/or any othersuitable storage memory.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, example system 100 may also include one ormore physical processors, such as physical processor 130. Physicalprocessor 130 generally represents any type or form ofhardware-implemented processing unit capable of interpreting and/orexecuting computer-readable instructions. In one example, physicalprocessor 130 may access and/or modify one or more of modules 102 storedin memory 140. Additionally or alternatively, physical processor 130 mayexecute one or more of modules 102 to facilitate assessing securityrisks of users of computer networks of organizations. Examples ofphysical processor 130 include, without limitation, microprocessors,microcontrollers, Central Processing Units (CPUs), Field-ProgrammableGate Arrays (FPGAs) that implement softcore processors,Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), portions of one ormore of the same, variations or combinations of one or more of the same,and/or any other suitable physical processor.

Example system 100 in FIG. 1 may be implemented in a variety of ways.For example, all or a portion of example system 100 may representportions of example system 200 in FIG. 2. As shown in FIG. 2, system 200may include a server 202 in communication with user computing device 212and user computing device 214 of organization computer network 210 via anetwork 204. In at least one example, server 202 may also be incommunication with host computing device 220 via network 204. Server 202may include risk scores 230, including user risk scores 232, host riskscores 234, and/or organization risk scores 236 that are calculated andused in identifying and assessing security risks of user, host locations(e.g., URL and/or domain hosts), and/or organizations. User computingdevice 212 may include at least one organization user credentialassociated with a user of user computing device 212, such asorganization user credential 216. Additionally, user computing device214 may include at least one organization user credential associatedwith a user of user computing device 214, such as organization usercredential 218.

In one example, all or a portion of the functionality of modules 102 maybe performed by server 202, user computing device 212, user computingdevice 214, and/or any other suitable computing system. As will bedescribed in greater detail below, one or more of modules 102 from FIG.1 may, when executed by at least one processor of server 202, usercomputing device 212, and/or user computing device 214, enable server202, user computing device 212, and/or user computing device 214 toidentify and assess user security risk for an organization. For example,and as will be described in greater detail below, one or more of modules102 may cause server 202, user computing device 212, and/or usercomputing device 214 to (i) detect a location of a host electronicallyaccessed by a user computing device, the host location having anelectronic address outside of a computer network of an organization,(ii) identify a host user credential sent to the host location from theuser computing device, (iii) determine that the host user credentialmatches an organization user credential associated with theorganization's computer network, and (iv) calculate a risk score for auser of the user computing device based on the determination that thehost user credential matches the organization user credential.

Server 202 generally represents any type or form of computing devicethat is capable of identifying and analyzing interactions betweencomputing devices within and/or associated with an organization'scomputer network and locations external to the organization's computernetwork and assessing security risks of users of the computing devices.Examples of server 202 include, without limitation, security servers,application servers, web servers, storage servers, and/or databaseservers configured to run certain software applications and/or providevarious security, web, storage, and/or database services. Althoughillustrated as a single entity in FIG. 2, server 202 may include and/orrepresent a plurality of servers that work and/or operate in conjunctionwith one another.

User computing device 212 and user computing device 214 each generallyrepresents any type or form of computing device capable of readingcomputer-executable instructions. User computing device 212 and usercomputing device 214 may each be user computing devices that areutilized by employees of an organization, that are part of organizationcomputer network 210, and/or that are otherwise associated with and/orconnected to organization computer network 210. Examples of usercomputing device 212 and user computing device 214 include, withoutlimitation, laptops, tablets, desktops, servers, cellular phones,Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), multimedia players, embeddedsystems, wearable devices (e.g., smart watches, smart glasses, etc.),smart vehicles, smart packaging (e.g., active or intelligent packaging),gaming consoles, so-called Internet-of-Things devices (e.g., smartappliances, etc.), variations or combinations of one or more of thesame, and/or any other suitable computing device.

Network 204 generally represents any medium or architecture capable offacilitating communication or data transfer. In one example, network 204may facilitate communication between user computing device 212, usercomputing device 214, host computing device 220, and server 202. In thisexample, network 204 may facilitate communication or data transfer usingwireless and/or wired connections. Examples of network 204 include,without limitation, an intranet, a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Local AreaNetwork (LAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), the Internet, Power LineCommunications (PLC), a cellular network (e.g., a Global System forMobile Communications (GSM) network), portions of one or more of thesame, variations or combinations of one or more of the same, and/or anyother suitable network.

Organization computer network 210 generally represents any medium orarchitecture capable of facilitating communication or data transferbetween computing devices that are part of an organization and/or thatare associated with an organization (e.g., computing devices thatprovide at least one service that is utilized by organization computernetwork 210). Organization computer network 210 may be controlled byand/or associated with any suitable type of organization, withoutlimitation, including a government, business, company, club,institution, society, association, political, and/or any other organizedgroup of individuals and/or computing systems organized for any purpose,without limitation. Organization computer network 210 may comprise anetwork that links computing systems particular to and/or related to theorganization. In one example, organization computer network 210 mayfacilitate communication between user computing device 212, usercomputing device 214, and/or any other computing device, such as a usercomputing device, administrator device, server, database and/or anyother suitable device, belonging to and/or associated with anorganization. In this example, organization computer network 210 mayfacilitate communication or data transfer using wireless and/or wiredconnections. Examples of organization computer network 210 include,without limitation, an intranet, a Wide Area Network (WAN), a Local AreaNetwork (LAN), a Personal Area Network (PAN), the Internet, Power LineCommunications (PLC), a cellular network (e.g., a Global System forMobile Communications (GSM) network), portions of one or more of thesame, variations or combinations of one or more of the same, and/or anyother suitable network.

Host computing device 220 generally represents any type or form ofcomputing device capable of reading computer-executable instructions.Host computing device 220 may be a computing device, server, database,and/or any other device and/or partitioned portion of a device that isnot associated with organization computer network 210. For example, hostcomputing device 220 may be a server that hosts a web domain that is notassociated with organization computer network 210. Examples of hostcomputing device 220 include, without limitation, laptops, tablets,desktops, servers, cellular phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs),multimedia players, embedded systems, wearable devices (e.g., smartwatches, smart glasses, etc.), smart vehicles, smart packaging (e.g.,active or intelligent packaging), gaming consoles, so-calledInternet-of-Things devices (e.g., smart appliances, etc.), variations orcombinations of one or more of the same, and/or any other suitablecomputing device and/or cloud-based system.

FIG. 3 is a flow diagram of an example computer-implemented method 300for assessing security risks of users of computer networks oforganizations. The steps shown in FIG. 3 may be performed by anysuitable computer-executable code and/or computing system, includingsystem 100 in FIG. 1, system 200 in FIG. 2, and/or variations orcombinations of one or more of the same. In one example, each of thesteps shown in FIG. 3 may represent an algorithm whose structureincludes and/or is represented by multiple sub-steps, examples of whichwill be provided in greater detail below.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, at step 302 one or more of the systemsdescribed herein may detect, at a risk computing device, a location of ahost electronically accessed by a user computing device, the hostlocation having an electronic address outside of a computer network ofan organization. For example, detection module 104 may, as part ofserver 202 in FIG. 2, detect a location of host computing device 220electronically accessed by user computing device 212, the host computingdevice 220 location having an electronic address outside of organizationcomputer network 210.

Detection module 104 may detect a location of host computing device 220in a variety of ways. In some embodiments, detection module 104 maydetect a location of host computing device 220, which was electronicallyaccessed by user computing device 212, by monitoring traffic betweencomputing devices that are part of organization computer network 210and/or that are otherwise associated organization computer network 210and locations, such as web locations, that are external to organizationcomputer network 210. In some embodiments, URLs, such as HTTP-basedURLs, that are electronically accessed by user computing devices oforganization computer network 210 may be monitored and user accessevents may be logged. Information associated with the access events mayalso be obtained in conjunction with the monitoring. For example, URLartefact that include credentials and/or indicators of credentialssubmitted by user computing device 212 to external host locations, suchas a location of host computing device 220, may be obtained, as will bedescribed in greater detail below. In some examples, computing devicesthat are not part of organization computer network 210, but that areused by users associated with organization computer network 210, may bemonitored to detect locations electronically accessed by the computingdevices, including locations within organization computer network 210and locations external to organization computer network 210. Forexample, a user on a device that is not part of organization computernetwork 210 may log into organization computer network 210 through aportal, such as a corporate gateway, and may access locations withinorganization computer network 210 and external to organization computernetwork 210.

Any suitable monitoring system may be utilized to monitor trafficbetween devices that are part of organization computer network 210 anddevices that are external to organization computer network 210. In atleast one embodiment, monitoring may be conducted using a gateway, suchas, for example, a secure corporate gateway service (e.g., BLUECOATOn-Premise Secure Web Gateway) and/or an endpoint browser. Such agateway service may authenticate users and/or user computing devicesusing a secure login. Additionally, the gateway service may track webtraffic between user computing devices and locations that are withinorganization computer network 210 and external to organization computernetwork 210. The gateway service may keep a log of locations, such asURLs and/or domain names, visited by user computing devices.

At step 304 in FIG. 3, one or more of the systems described herein mayidentify, at the risk computing device, a host user credential sent tothe host location from the user computing device. For example,identification module 106 may, as part of server 202 in FIG. 2, identifya host user credential 222 sent to the host computing device 220location from user computing device 212.

The terms “credential” and “user credential” as used herein generallyrefer to a unique object, such as a text object (e.g., alphanumericstring) and/or other data object (e.g., bit data), that may be used forpurposes of verification, identification, and/or authorization. Examplesof credentials include, without limitation, user names, emailsaddresses, user identifiers, organization identifiers, passwords, and/orother identifying and/or unique credentials, such as public keyinfrastructure certificates, tokens, personal identification numbers(PIN), and/or biometric identifiers. In some embodiments, credentialsmay be associated with a user, a user computing device, and/or a network(e.g., an organization's computer network).

Identification module 106 may identify host user credential 222 in avariety of ways. In some embodiments, identification module 106 mayidentify at least one host user credential 222, such as a name, apassword, and/or any other identifying user and/or organizationalcredential, that is sent to the host computing device 220 location fromuser computing device 212. For example, a monitoring service, such as aweb gateway, may log data that includes text entries of user names,emails addresses, user identifiers, organization identifiers, passwords,and/or other credentials (e.g., PKI certificates, tokens, PIN numbers,etc.) that are input from user computing device 212 into one or morefields of a webpage presented by host computing device 220. In someembodiments, the at least one host user credential 222 may be obtainedfrom information generated and/or stored, at least temporarily, by hostcomputing device 220. For example, a URL corresponding to a locationhosted by host computing device 220 may receive cleartext entries fromuser computing device 212. These entries may be stored, at leasttemporarily, in a URL, such as a throw-away URL and/or an ignoredHTTP-based URL. In at least one embodiment, at least one host usercredential 222 may be obtained by extracting query parameters from aURL.

In one embodiment, a log of locations that are electronically accessedby user computing device 212, along with corresponding data associatedwith the user access, may be compiled and stored, and the locations mayeach be analyzed to determine what, if any, user credentials arecontained in information associated with the locations. For example, acorporate gateway may log all URLs, including query parameters,throw-away URLs, and/or ignored HTTP-based URLs, electronically accessedby user computing device 212 within a specified time frame and may storedata (e.g., URL artefacts) generated in association with each of theURLs. In some embodiments, identification module 106 may analyze a listof URLs electronically accessed by user computing device 212, such as alist of HTTP-based URLs, and identify URLs where user credentials, suchas user names, passwords, and/or other identifying user and/ororganizational credentials have been sent from user computing device 212to host locations external to organization computer network 210. Forexample, identification module 106 may identify query parameters thathave been sent from user computing device 212 to locations external toorganization computer network 210 in cleartext to identify usercredentials sent to the locations. In at least one embodiment,identification module 106 may analyze stored HTTP request headers thatinclude HTTP basic authentication information to identify usercredentials sent to locations external to organization computer network210. Identification module 106 may extract any user and/or organizationcredentials from the data, such as query parameters and/or header data,associated with the locations.

In at least one embodiment, the systems and methods described herein maydetect, at the risk computing device, a hostname for the URL. Detectionmodule 104 may, for example, extract a hostname, such as a domain name,for each location, such as each URL, contained in a log of locationsexternal to organization computer network 210 that are electronicallyaccessed by user computing device 212. For example, detection module 104may determine that multiple logged URLs are each associated with acommon hostname, such as a hostname corresponding to host computingdevice 220. Identification module 106 may then identify user credentialstransmitted by user computing device 212 to each distinct hostname.

In some embodiments, identifying the host user credential sent to thehost location may further include decrypting information sent from theuser computing device to the host location. For example, identificationmodule 106 may decrypt, as part of server 202, information sent fromuser computing device 212 to the host computing device 220 location. Inat least one embodiment, information sent from user computing device 212may be sent to an HTTPS-based URL hosted by host computing device 220such that the information is encrypted at host computing device 220and/or prior to being sent to the host computing device 220 location. Incertain embodiments, user computing device 212 may use a proxy serviceto access a URL hosted by host computing device 220. The data sent tothe host computing device 220 location may be encrypted by the proxyservice. Identification module 106 may decrypt data that has beenencrypted using any suitable technique, without limitation. For example,a gateway service monitoring traffic to and from user computing device212 may obtain a cipher that is transmitted from user computing device212 to the host computing device 220 location, or that is transmittedfrom the host computing device 220 location to user computing device212, and identification module 106 may utilize the cipher to decryptdata sent between user computing device 212 and the host computingdevice 220 location. A host user credential 222 sent from user computingdevice 212 to the host computing device 220 location may then beidentified from the decrypted data.

At step 306 in FIG. 3, one or more of the systems described herein maydetermine, at the risk computing device, that the host user credentialmatches an organization user credential associated with theorganization's computer network. For example, determination module 108may, as part of server 202 in FIG. 2, determine that host usercredential 222 matches an organization user credential (e.g.,organization user credential 216 and/or organization user credential218) associated with organization computer network 210.

Determination module 108 may determine that host user credential 222matches an organization user credential in variety of ways. In oneembodiment, determination module 108 may compare host user credential222 with one or more user credentials associated organization computernetwork 210. For example, determination module 108 may determine whetherhost user credential 222, or at least a portion of host user credential222, matches an organization user credential 216 for a user of usercomputing device 212. A determination that host user credential 222matches a user credential associated with organization computer network210, such as organization user credential 216, may demonstrate that auser of user computing device 212 reused organization user credential216 on a URL hosted by host computing device 220. For example, the userof user computing device 212 may have reused organization usercredential 216 to set up a user account with the URL and/or to receivenotifications (e.g., email updates and/or notifications) from the URL.

In some embodiments, determination module 108 may determine that morethan one organization user credential was supplied by user computingdevice 212 and/or a user of user computing device 212 to a location,such as a location of host computing device 220, external toorganization computer network 210. For example, identification module106 may identify multiple host user credentials sent by user computingdevice 212 to a location of host computing device 220. Determinationmodule 108 may then determine that each of the host user credentialsmatch a different organization user credential associated with usercomputing device 212 and/or a user of user computing device 212. Forexample, identification module 106 may extract a first host usercredential from a URL hosted by host computing device 220 anddetermination module 108 may determine that the first host usercredential corresponds to an organization email address of a userassociated with organization computer network 210, such as a user ofuser computing device 212. Identification module 106 may also extract asecond host user credential from the URL hosted by host computing device220 and determination module 108 may determine that the second host usercredential corresponds to a password (e.g., a password used to login tothe email account or other organization account or portal) for the userof user computing device 212.

In some embodiments, determination module 108 may also compare host usercredential 222 with organization user credentials for one or more otherusers. For example, determination module 108 may determine whether auser associated with organization computer network 210 electronicallyaccessed the host computing device 220 location using at least one usercredential belonging to a user, other than a user of user computingdevice 212, associated with organization computer network 210.Determination module 108 may, for example, determine that host usercredential 222 matches organization user credential 218, which isassociated with a user of user computing device 214. A determinationthat host user credential 222 matches organization user credential 218may demonstrate inter-user password reuse of another user's password bya user of user computing device 212 on a URL hosted by host computingdevice 220. For example, the user of user computing device 212 may havereused organization user credential 218 for another user associated withorganization computer network 210 to set up a user account with the URLand/or to receive notifications (e.g., email updates and/ornotifications) from the URL.

In some embodiments, one or more of the systems described herein maydetermine that a user was logged onto the user computing device when thehost location was electronically accessed by the user computing device.For example, determination module 108 may determine, as part of server202 in FIG. 2, that a user of user computing device 212 was logged ontouser computing device 212 when a URL hosted by host computing device 220was electronically accessed by user computing device 212. In at leastone embodiment, one or more of the systems described herein maydetermine that the user was logged into a web gateway for theorganization when the host location was electronically accessed by theuser computing device. For example, determination module 108 maydetermine, as part of server 202, that a user of user computing device212 was logged into a corporate gateway for organization computernetwork 210 when a URL hosted by host computing device 220 waselectronically accessed by user computing device 212. As described ingreater detail above, a corporate gateway may be utilized to monitor andlog locations electronically accessed by user computing device 212 andto identify that host user credential 222 was sent to the host computingdevice 220 location by user computing device 212.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of the systems described hereinmay identify, at the risk computing device, an additional host locationelectronically accessed by the user computing device, the additionalhost location having an electronic address outside of the organizationnetwork. For example, identification module 106 may identify, as part ofserver 202 in FIG. 2, an additional host location, such as a URL inaddition a URL hosted by host computing device 220, that waselectronically accessed by user computing device 212, the additionalhost location having an electronic address outside of organizationcomputer network 210. One or more of the systems described herein maythen determine that the host user credential sent to the host computingdevice 220 location was also sent to the additional host location fromuser computing device 212. For example, determination module 108 maydetermine, as part of server 202, that host user credential 222, whichwas sent by user computing device 212 to the host computing device 220location, was also sent to the additional host location from usercomputing device 212. Such a determination may demonstrate that a userof user computing device 212 has reused an organization user credential,such as organization user credential 216, at multiple locations, such asURLs and/or domains, that are external to organization computer network210.

In some embodiments, one or more of the systems described herein maydetermine, at the risk computing device, that the host location waselectronically accessed by an additional user computing device. Forexample, determination module 108 may determine, as part of server 202in FIG. 2, that a URL hosted by host computing device 220 waselectronically accessed by another user computing device, such as usercomputing device 214, in addition to having been electronically accessedby user computing device 212. Additionally, one or more of the systemsdescribed herein may identify an additional host user credential sent tothe host location from the additional user computing device. Forexample, identification module 106 may identify, as part of server 202,another host user credential, such as a host user credential that isdistinct from host user credential 222 sent by user computing device 212to the host computing device 220 location, that is sent from usercomputing device 214. One or more of the systems described herein maythen determine that the additional host user credential matches anadditional organization user credential associated with theorganization's computer network. For example, determination module 108may determine, as part of server 202, that the additional host usercredential matches an additional user credential, such as organizationuser credential 218, which is associated with organization computernetwork 210. Such a determination may demonstrate that multiple usersassociated with organization computer network 210 have reusedorganization user credentials at locations external to organizationnetwork, and further, that the multiple users have reused theorganization user credentials at a common external location (e.g., a URLhosted by host computing device 220).

At step 308 in FIG. 3, one or more of the systems described herein maycalculate, at the risk computing device, a risk score for a user of theuser computing device based on the determination that the host usercredential matches the organization user credential. For example,calculation module 110 may, as part of server 202 in FIG. 2, calculate arisk score for a user of user computing device 212 based on thedetermination that host user credential 222 matches organization usercredential 216.

Calculation module 110 may calculate the risk score in variety of ways.In one embodiment, a risk score for a user may represent a level of riskthat the user presents to an organization that manages and/or isotherwise associated with organization computer network 210. Risk scoresof various users in an organization may be determined based, at least inpart, on reuse of user credentials, such as organization usercredentials, at locations, such as web-based locations, that areexternal to organization computer network 210. For example, user riskscores 232 stored on server 202 may include risk scores for some or allorganization members (e.g., employees) associated with organizationcomputer network 210 and/or one or more computing devices inorganization computer network 210. In some embodiments, user risk scorescorresponding to various users in the organization may be compared witheach other and/or ranked. Users with a high risk score, either relativeto other users in the organization and/or relative to a broader sampleof users, including users outside the organization, may be identified ashigh-risk users in regards to relative security risk the users presentto the organization and/or entities (e.g., clients, service providers,etc.) interfacing with the organization. Alternatively, users with a lowrisk score may be identified as low-risk users

In some embodiments, user risk scores for users associated withorganization computer network 210 may be used to calculate anorganization risk score for the organization. An organization risk scoremay, for example, be stored in organization risk scores 236 on server202. The organization risk score may represent a level of security riskfor the organization that is based, at least in part, on the securitypractices of its users. For example, if a significant number and/orproportion of users associated with organization computer network 210have relatively high risk scores, organization computer network 210 mayhave an organization risk score that is higher relative to otherorganizations. In certain embodiments, risk scores for variouslocations, such as URLs and/or domains, that are external toorganization computer network 210 may be determined and stored, forexample, in host risk scores 234 on server 202. Host locations, such asthe host computing device 220 location, having a relatively high hostrisk score may represent host locations at which users associated withorganization computer network 210 frequently reuse organization usercredentials and/or host locations that have received organization usercredentials from multiple users associated with organization computernetwork 210 and/or from users associated with additional organizationnetworks.

In at least one example, one or more of the systems described herein maydetermine, at the risk computing device, a type of credentialcorresponding to the organization user credential, and calculating therisk score for the user may further include utilizing a weightcorresponding to the type of credential. For example, determinationmodule 108 may, as part of server 202 in FIG. 2, determine a type ofcredential corresponding to organization user credential 216, andcalculation module 110 may, as part of server 202, calculate the riskscore for the user by utilizing a weight corresponding to the determinedtype of credential.

Determination module 108 may determine the type of credential andcalculation module 110 may calculate the risk score in variety of ways.Any suitable calculation function may be utilized to by calculationmodule 110 to calculate risk scores for users. In one embodiment, anode/edge weighted hyperlink-induced topic search (HITS) algorithm maybe used to calculate user risk scores and/or host risk scores, withweights being applied to each node of the algorithm based on variousfactors. In at least one embodiment, different types of user credentialsmay be assigned different weights for purposes of calculating riskscores, such as user risk scores, organization risk scores, and/or hostrisk scores. For example, a first type of user credential, such as auser name or email address, may have a lower weight than a second typeof user credential, such as a password.

In various embodiments, calculating a risk score for a user may includeutilizing a weight that is based on a determination of a number of hostuser credentials sent to the host location from the user computingdevice, each of the determined number of host user credentialscorresponding to a separate organization user credential. For example,different weights may be assigned based on a number of user credentialssent by a user from a user computing device, such as user computingdevice 212, to an external location, such as a location of hostcomputing device 220. In one embodiment, a lower weight may be assignedto a user that sends only a single user credential, such as a user name,and a higher weight may be assigned to a user that sends two or moreuser credentials, such as a user name and a password. Various weightsfor calculating risk scores for one or more users may also be assignedand/or updated based on previously determined risk profiles oflocations, such as URLs and/or domains, that the users submittedcredentials to, and/or based on previously determined user risk profilesfor the users.

In some embodiments, one or more of the systems described herein maydetermine, at the risk computing device, that the user presents asecurity risk to the organization's computer network based on the riskscore calculated for the user. For example, determination module 108may, as part of server 202 illustrated in FIG. 2, determine that theuser presents a security risk to organization computer network 210 basedon the risk score calculated for the user. For example, if the riskscore for the user exceeds a predetermined threshold, the user may bedetermined to present a security risk to organization computer network210.

In at least one embodiment, one or more of the systems described hereinmay perform, at the risk computing device, a security action to protectthe organization's computer network based on the determination that theuser presents a security risk to the organization's computer network.For example, security module 112 may, as part of server 202 illustratedin FIG. 2, perform a security action to protect organization computernetwork 210 based on the determination that the user presents a securityrisk to organization computer network 210.

Security module 112 may perform the security action in a variety ofways. For example, security module 112 may perform a security action toprevent a user from accessing organization computer network 210 for atleast a specified period of time, warn the user and/or an administratorabout the increased security risk presented by the user's activities,increase monitoring of user activities, limit and/or block the user'saccess to locations, such as URLs and/or domains external to theorganization's computer network (e.g., the host computing device 220location), change one or more organization user credentials for theuser, and/or increase a risk score and/or profile for an organizationassociated with the organization computer network 210. In addition,security module 112 may perform a security action on locations externalto the organization's computer network. For example, security module 112may blacklist URLs and/or domains, such as a URL and/or domain hosted byhost computing device 220, having a risk score exceeding a predeterminedthreshold. In some embodiments, risk scores for users and/ororganizations may be collected and used for various risk assessment andmanagement purposes. For example, risk data based on risk scores forusers and/or organizations may be collected and used for insuranceunderwriting, such as cybersecurity underwriting, for the organizations.

FIG. 4 is a block diagram illustrating example risk analysis data thatis utilized for identifying and assessing user security risk for anorganization. As illustrated in FIG. 4, various users associated with anorganization's computer network, such as organization computer network210 illustrated in FIG. 2, may be determined to have electronicallyaccessed locations that are external to the organization's computernetwork according to any of the systems and methods described herein.

In at least one embodiment, the described systems and methods may haveidentified user 410, user 412, user 414, user 416, and user 418, each ofwhich have been determined to have shared one or more user credentialswith one or more of domain 420, domain 422, domain 424, domain 426, anddomain 428. In some embodiments, users 410-418 may have submitted usercredentials while logged onto a user computing device associated withthe organization's computer network (e.g., organization computer network210 illustrated in FIG. 2) and/or while logged into an organizationgateway associated with the organization's computer network. Domains420-428 may each represent a separate domain associated with a URLand/or domain. The credentials sent by users 410-418 to one or more ofdomains 420-428 may be organization credentials that have been reused ascredentials (e.g., host user credentials such as login credentials) forthe respective domains 420-428.

For example, as shown in FIG. 4, user 410 has sent at least one usercredential to domain 422, user 412 has sent at least one user credentialto domain 420 and domain 428, user 414 has sent at least one usercredential to domain 428, user 416 has sent at least one user credentialto domain 428, and user 418 has sent at least one user credential todomain 424 and domain 426. In at least one embodiment, users that havesubmitted user credentials to a greater number of domains, such as user412 and user 418, may be determined to have a higher calculated riskscore than users that have submitted user credentials to fewer domains,such as user 410, user 414, and user 418. In some embodiments, usersthat have submitted multiple user credentials to a single domain and/orcertain types of user credentials to a domain, may have a higher weightapplied to the calculation of their risk score.

In at least one embodiment, the locations external to an organization'scomputer network, such as URLs and/or domains, may each have a riskscore assigned based on risk profiles of the locations. For example,domains may have existing risk profiles assigned based on previoussecurity analyses of the domains and their security reputations. Theexisting risk scores and/or risk profiles of the domains may be used incalculating risk scores for each user that submitted credentials to therespective domains. For example, a user that submits credentials to adomain having a higher risk score may have a higher relative user riskscore, and/or a calculation used to determine the risk score for theuser may include a higher weighting, than a user that submitscredentials to a domain having a lower risk score. In some embodiments,previous risk scores and/or risk profiles for each user may be used incalculating updated risk scores for each user that submitted credentialsto locations external to an organization's computer network. Forexample, one or more users associated with an organization may haveexisting risk profiles assigned based on previous security analyses ofthe users.

Each of these risk scores and/or risk profiles for the users and/ordomains may be utilized to apply corresponding weights to nodes of analgorithm used to calculate risk scores for each of the users and/ordomains. For example, corresponding weights may be applied to nodes of anode/edge weighted HITS algorithm used by calculation module 110 tocalculate risk scores for each of users 410-418 and/or risk scores foreach of domains 420-428 illustrated in FIG. 4. In one embodiment, a riskscore algorithm used to calculate risk scores for each of the users anddomains illustrated in FIG. 4 may result in, for example, risk scores of0.09 for user 410, 0.12 for user 412, 0.04 for user 414, 0.08 for user416, and 0.14 for user 418, and risk scores of 0.08 for domain 420, 0.09for domain 422, 0.09 for domain 424, 0.05 for domain 426, and 0.16 fordomain 428. The higher risk scores for user 418 and domain 428 mayrepresent a higher level of risk associated with user 418 and domain 428in comparison with other users and domains.

In one embodiment, URL artefacts, such as artefacts originating fromlogs provided by monitoring systems such as corporate gateways (e.g.,BLUECOAT On-Premise Secure Web Gateway) or endpoint browsers, may beanalyzed to identify users within an organization that: (i) sendcredentials in plain text (e.g., over HTTP), (ii) re-use passwords formultiple accounts (e.g., sanctioned accounts vs. other accounts)(intra-user reuse), (iii) use an organization email address to createshadow information-technology (shadow IT) accounts (e.g., DROPBOX) orpersonal accounts (e.g. news sites), and/or (iv) use somebody else'saccount (inter-user reuse). If a URL logging system is able to retrieveURLs originating from encrypted traffic (e.g., proxy) and/or requestheaders, such artefacts may be analyzed too.

Given a user (ID/name) and a list of URLs requested by that user for agiven time frame, the systems and methods described herein may identify,from a list of HTTP-based URLs, those URLs where passwords have beensent in cleartext (e.g., in a query parameter such as “password” or“pwd”, in the user information part of the URL). If HTTP request headersare available, HTTP Basic authentication information may also bechecked. In some embodiments, encrypted traffic, such as HTTPS traffic,may be decrypted to obtain user credentials. For each URL identified,corresponding hostnames may be extracted. For each distinct hostnameextracted, the systems and methods may check (i) whether intra-userpassword reuse occurs, (ii) whether inter-user password reuse occurs,and (iii) whether corporate email address is provided as username. Arisk score may be calculated for each user so that organization usersare ranked according to their usage of best security practices. Thisrisk score may be used directly by risk management products or to informpolicy-based systems (e.g., DLP/CASB, PROXYSG, etc.) (e.g. to prevent auser from sending their corporate password to a non-sanctioned site).Additionally, collected data may be leveraged as an additional datasource for a cyber insurance underwriting tool to assess the overallsecurity posture of a given company.

As explained above in connection with method 300 in FIG. 3, the systemsand methods described herein may enable analysis of interactions byorganization users with host locations, such as URLs and/or domains,outside of the organization. The interactions may be analyzed toidentify intra-party and inter-party reuse of organization credentialsby the organization users and to generate risk scores and/or profilesfor the organization users and/or for the organization. The risk scoresmay be used to determine users in the organization that present anincreased risk to the organization. Policy-based corrective securitymeasures may be taken to address higher-risk users in the organization,thereby preventing loss of sensitive data and increasing the security ofthe organization as a whole while directing resources to the users thatpresent greatest risk. The systems and methods described herein may alsobe used to identify locations external to the organization's computernetwork, such as non-sanctioned URLs and/or domains, that areelectronically accessed by users and that may present a security risk tothe organization. Security measures may be put in place to prevent usersfrom accessing such higher risk locations and/or to increase scrutiny ofuser access to these locations. The systems and methods described hereinmay also be used to cater best-practice security training to the needsof an organization by identifying risky practices engaged in by users inthe organization.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of an example computing system 510 capable ofimplementing one or more of the embodiments described and/or illustratedherein. For example, all or a portion of computing system 510 mayperform and/or be a means for performing, either alone or in combinationwith other elements, one or more of the steps described herein (such asone or more of the steps illustrated in FIG. 3). All or a portion ofcomputing system 510 may also perform and/or be a means for performingany other steps, methods, or processes described and/or illustratedherein.

Computing system 510 broadly represents any single or multi-processorcomputing device or system capable of executing computer-readableinstructions. Examples of computing system 510 include, withoutlimitation, workstations, laptops, client-side terminals, servers,distributed computing systems, handheld devices, or any other computingsystem or device. In its most basic configuration, computing system 510may include at least one processor 514 and a system memory 516.

Processor 514 generally represents any type or form of physicalprocessing unit (e.g., a hardware-implemented central processing unit)capable of processing data or interpreting and executing instructions.In certain embodiments, processor 514 may receive instructions from asoftware application or module. These instructions may cause processor514 to perform the functions of one or more of the example embodimentsdescribed and/or illustrated herein.

System memory 516 generally represents any type or form of volatile ornon-volatile storage device or medium capable of storing data and/orother computer-readable instructions. Examples of system memory 516include, without limitation, Random Access Memory (RAM), Read OnlyMemory (ROM), flash memory, or any other suitable memory device.Although not required, in certain embodiments computing system 510 mayinclude both a volatile memory unit (such as, for example, system memory516) and a non-volatile storage device (such as, for example, primarystorage device 532, as described in detail below). In one example, oneor more of modules 102 from FIG. 1 may be loaded into system memory 516.

In some examples, system memory 516 may store and/or load an operatingsystem 540 for execution by processor 514. In one example, operatingsystem 540 may include and/or represent software that manages computerhardware and software resources and/or provides common services tocomputer programs and/or applications on computing system 510. Examplesof operating system 640 include, without limitation, LINUX, JUNOS,MICROSOFT WINDOWS, WINDOWS MOBILE, MAC OS, APPLE'S IOS, UNIX, GOOGLECHROME OS, GOOGLE'S ANDROID, SOLARIS, variations of one or more of thesame, and/or any other suitable operating system.

In certain embodiments, example computing system 510 may also includeone or more components or elements in addition to processor 514 andsystem memory 516. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 5, computingsystem 510 may include a memory controller 518, an Input/Output (I/O)controller 520, and a communication interface 522, each of which may beinterconnected via a communication infrastructure 512. Communicationinfrastructure 512 generally represents any type or form ofinfrastructure capable of facilitating communication between one or morecomponents of a computing device. Examples of communicationinfrastructure 512 include, without limitation, a communication bus(such as an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA), Peripheral ComponentInterconnect (PCI), PCI Express (PCIe), or similar bus) and a network.

Memory controller 518 generally represents any type or form of devicecapable of handling memory or data or controlling communication betweenone or more components of computing system 510. For example, in certainembodiments memory controller 518 may control communication betweenprocessor 514, system memory 516, and I/O controller 520 viacommunication infrastructure 512.

I/O controller 520 generally represents any type or form of modulecapable of coordinating and/or controlling the input and outputfunctions of a computing device. For example, in certain embodiments I/Ocontroller 520 may control or facilitate transfer of data between one ormore elements of computing system 510, such as processor 514, systemmemory 516, communication interface 522, display adapter 526, inputinterface 530, and storage interface 534.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, computing system 510 may also include at leastone display device 524 coupled to I/O controller 520 via a displayadapter 526. Display device 524 generally represents any type or form ofdevice capable of visually displaying information forwarded by displayadapter 526. Similarly, display adapter 526 generally represents anytype or form of device configured to forward graphics, text, and otherdata from communication infrastructure 512 (or from a frame buffer, asknown in the art) for display on display device 524.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, example computing system 510 may also includeat least one input device 528 coupled to I/O controller 520 via an inputinterface 530. Input device 528 generally represents any type or form ofinput device capable of providing input, either computer or humangenerated, to example computing system 510. Examples of input device 528include, without limitation, a keyboard, a pointing device, a speechrecognition device, variations or combinations of one or more of thesame, and/or any other input device.

Additionally or alternatively, example computing system 510 may includeadditional I/O devices. For example, example computing system 510 mayinclude I/O device 536. In this example, I/O device 536 may includeand/or represent a user interface that facilitates human interactionwith computing system 510. Examples of I/O device 536 include, withoutlimitation, a computer mouse, a keyboard, a monitor, a printer, a modem,a camera, a scanner, a microphone, a touchscreen device, variations orcombinations of one or more of the same, and/or any other I/O device.

Communication interface 522 broadly represents any type or form ofcommunication device or adapter capable of facilitating communicationbetween example computing system 510 and one or more additional devices.For example, in certain embodiments communication interface 522 mayfacilitate communication between computing system 510 and a private orpublic network including additional computing systems. Examples ofcommunication interface 522 include, without limitation, a wired networkinterface (such as a network interface card), a wireless networkinterface (such as a wireless network interface card), a modem, and anyother suitable interface. In at least one embodiment, communicationinterface 522 may provide a direct connection to a remote server via adirect link to a network, such as the Internet. Communication interface522 may also indirectly provide such a connection through, for example,a local area network (such as an Ethernet network), a personal areanetwork, a telephone or cable network, a cellular telephone connection,a satellite data connection, or any other suitable connection.

In certain embodiments, communication interface 522 may also represent ahost adapter configured to facilitate communication between computingsystem 510 and one or more additional network or storage devices via anexternal bus or communications channel. Examples of host adaptersinclude, without limitation, Small Computer System Interface (SCSI) hostadapters, Universal Serial Bus (USB) host adapters, Institute ofElectrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 1394 host adapters, AdvancedTechnology Attachment (ATA), Parallel ATA (PATA), Serial ATA (SATA), andExternal SATA (eSATA) host adapters, Fibre Channel interface adapters,Ethernet adapters, or the like. Communication interface 522 may alsoallow computing system 510 to engage in distributed or remote computing.For example, communication interface 522 may receive instructions from aremote device or send instructions to a remote device for execution.

In some examples, system memory 516 may store and/or load a networkcommunication program 538 for execution by processor 514. In oneexample, network communication program 538 may include and/or representsoftware that enables computing system 510 to establish a networkconnection 542 with another computing system (not illustrated in FIG. 5)and/or communicate with the other computing system by way ofcommunication interface 522. In this example, network communicationprogram 538 may direct the flow of outgoing traffic that is sent to theother computing system via network connection 542. Additionally oralternatively, network communication program 538 may direct theprocessing of incoming traffic that is received from the other computingsystem via network connection 542 in connection with processor 514.

Although not illustrated in this way in FIG. 5, network communicationprogram 538 may alternatively be stored and/or loaded in communicationinterface 522. For example, network communication program 538 mayinclude and/or represent at least a portion of software and/or firmwarethat is executed by a processor and/or Application Specific IntegratedCircuit (ASIC) incorporated in communication interface 522.

As illustrated in FIG. 5, example computing system 510 may also includea primary storage device 532 and a backup storage device 533 coupled tocommunication infrastructure 512 via a storage interface 534. Storagedevices 532 and 533 generally represent any type or form of storagedevice or medium capable of storing data and/or other computer-readableinstructions. For example, storage devices 532 and 533 may be a magneticdisk drive (e.g., a so-called hard drive), a solid state drive, a floppydisk drive, a magnetic tape drive, an optical disk drive, a flash drive,or the like. Storage interface 534 generally represents any type or formof interface or device for transferring data between storage devices 532and 533 and other components of computing system 510.

In certain embodiments, storage devices 532 and 533 may be configured toread from and/or write to a removable storage unit configured to storecomputer software, data, or other computer-readable information.Examples of suitable removable storage units include, withoutlimitation, a floppy disk, a magnetic tape, an optical disk, a flashmemory device, or the like. Storage devices 532 and 533 may also includeother similar structures or devices for allowing computer software,data, or other computer-readable instructions to be loaded intocomputing system 510. For example, storage devices 532 and 533 may beconfigured to read and write software, data, or other computer-readableinformation. Storage devices 532 and 533 may also be a part of computingsystem 510 or may be a separate device electronically accessed throughother interface systems.

Many other devices or subsystems may be connected to computing system510. Conversely, all of the components and devices illustrated in FIG. 5need not be present to practice the embodiments described and/orillustrated herein. The devices and subsystems referenced above may alsobe interconnected in different ways from that shown in FIG. 5. Computingsystem 510 may also employ any number of software, firmware, and/orhardware configurations. For example, one or more of the exampleembodiments disclosed herein may be encoded as a computer program (alsoreferred to as computer software, software applications,computer-readable instructions, or computer control logic) on acomputer-readable medium. The term “computer-readable medium,” as usedherein, generally refers to any form of device, carrier, or mediumcapable of storing or carrying computer-readable instructions. Examplesof computer-readable media include, without limitation,transmission-type media, such as carrier waves, and non-transitory-typemedia, such as magnetic-storage media (e.g., hard disk drives, tapedrives, and floppy disks), optical-storage media (e.g., Compact Disks(CDs), Digital Video Disks (DVDs), and BLU-RAY disks),electronic-storage media (e.g., solid-state drives and flash media), andother distribution systems.

The computer-readable medium containing the computer program may beloaded into computing system 510. All or a portion of the computerprogram stored on the computer-readable medium may then be stored insystem memory 516 and/or various portions of storage devices 532 and533. When executed by processor 514, a computer program loaded intocomputing system 510 may cause processor 514 to perform and/or be ameans for performing the functions of one or more of the exampleembodiments described and/or illustrated herein. Additionally oralternatively, one or more of the example embodiments described and/orillustrated herein may be implemented in firmware and/or hardware. Forexample, computing system 510 may be configured as an ApplicationSpecific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) adapted to implement one or more ofthe example embodiments disclosed herein.

FIG. 6 is a block diagram of an example network architecture 600 inwhich client systems 610, 620, and 630 and servers 640 and 645 may becoupled to a network 650. As detailed above, all or a portion of networkarchitecture 600 may perform and/or be a means for performing, eitheralone or in combination with other elements, one or more of the stepsdisclosed herein (such as one or more of the steps illustrated in FIG.3). All or a portion of network architecture 600 may also be used toperform and/or be a means for performing other steps and features setforth in the instant disclosure.

Client systems 610, 620, and 630 generally represent any type or form ofcomputing device or system, such as example computing system 510 in FIG.5. Similarly, servers 640 and 645 generally represent computing devicesor systems, such as application servers or database servers, configuredto provide various database services and/or run certain softwareapplications. Network 650 generally represents any telecommunication orcomputer network including, for example, an intranet, a WAN, a LAN, aPAN, or the Internet. In one example, client systems 610, 620, and/or630 and/or servers 640 and/or 645 may include all or a portion of system100 from FIG. 1.

As illustrated in FIG. 6, one or more storage devices 660(1)-(N) may bedirectly attached to server 640. Similarly, one or more storage devices670(1)-(N) may be directly attached to server 645. Storage devices660(1)-(N) and storage devices 670(1)-(N) generally represent any typeor form of storage device or medium capable of storing data and/or othercomputer-readable instructions. In certain embodiments, storage devices660(1)-(N) and storage devices 670(1)-(N) may represent Network-AttachedStorage (NAS) devices configured to communicate with servers 640 and 645using various protocols, such as Network File System (NFS), ServerMessage Block (SMB), or Common Internet File System (CIFS).

Servers 640 and 645 may also be connected to a Storage Area Network(SAN) fabric 680. SAN fabric 680 generally represents any type or formof computer network or architecture capable of facilitatingcommunication between a plurality of storage devices. SAN fabric 680 mayfacilitate communication between servers 640 and 645 and a plurality ofstorage devices 690(1)-(N) and/or an intelligent storage array 695. SANfabric 680 may also facilitate, via network 650 and servers 640 and 645,communication between client systems 610, 620, and 630 and storagedevices 690(1)-(N) and/or intelligent storage array 695 in such a mannerthat devices 690(1)-(N) and array 695 appear as locally attached devicesto client systems 610, 620, and 630. As with storage devices 660(1)-(N)and storage devices 670(1)-(N), storage devices 690(1)-(N) andintelligent storage array 695 generally represent any type or form ofstorage device or medium capable of storing data and/or othercomputer-readable instructions.

In certain embodiments, and with reference to example computing system510 of FIG. 5, a communication interface, such as communicationinterface 522 in FIG. 5, may be used to provide connectivity betweeneach client system 610, 620, and 630 and network 650. Client systems610, 620, and 630 may be able to access information on server 640 or 645using, for example, a web browser or other client software. Suchsoftware may allow client systems 610, 620, and 630 to access datahosted by server 640, server 645, storage devices 660(1)-(N), storagedevices 670(1)-(N), storage devices 690(1)-(N), or intelligent storagearray 695. Although FIG. 6 depicts the use of a network (such as theInternet) for exchanging data, the embodiments described and/orillustrated herein are not limited to the Internet or any particularnetwork-based environment.

In at least one embodiment, all or a portion of one or more of theexample embodiments disclosed herein may be encoded as a computerprogram and loaded onto and executed by server 640, server 645, storagedevices 660(1)-(N), storage devices 670(1)-(N), storage devices690(1)-(N), intelligent storage array 695, or any combination thereof.All or a portion of one or more of the example embodiments disclosedherein may also be encoded as a computer program, stored in server 640,run by server 645, and distributed to client systems 610, 620, and 630over network 650.

As detailed above, computing system 510 and/or one or more components ofnetwork architecture 600 may perform and/or be a means for performing,either alone or in combination with other elements, one or more steps ofan example method for assessing security risks of users of computernetworks of organizations.

While the foregoing disclosure sets forth various embodiments usingspecific block diagrams, flowcharts, and examples, each block diagramcomponent, flowchart step, operation, and/or component described and/orillustrated herein may be implemented, individually and/or collectively,using a wide range of hardware, software, or firmware (or anycombination thereof) configurations. In addition, any disclosure ofcomponents contained within other components should be consideredexample in nature since many other architectures can be implemented toachieve the same functionality.

In some examples, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1 mayrepresent portions of a cloud-computing or network-based environment.Cloud-computing environments may provide various services andapplications via the Internet. These cloud-based services (e.g.,software as a service, platform as a service, infrastructure as aservice, etc.) may be accessible through a web browser or other remoteinterface. Various functions described herein may be provided through aremote desktop environment or any other cloud-based computingenvironment.

In various embodiments, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1may facilitate multi-tenancy within a cloud-based computing environment.In other words, the software modules described herein may configure acomputing system (e.g., a server) to facilitate multi-tenancy for one ormore of the functions described herein. For example, one or more of thesoftware modules described herein may program a server to enable two ormore clients (e.g., customers) to share an application that is runningon the server. A server programmed in this manner may share anapplication, operating system, processing system, and/or storage systemamong multiple customers (i.e., tenants). One or more of the modulesdescribed herein may also partition data and/or configurationinformation of a multi-tenant application for each customer such thatone customer cannot access data and/or configuration information ofanother customer.

According to various embodiments, all or a portion of example system 100in FIG. 1 may be implemented within a virtual environment. For example,the modules and/or data described herein may reside and/or executewithin a virtual machine. As used herein, the term “virtual machine”generally refers to any operating system environment that is abstractedfrom computing hardware by a virtual machine manager (e.g., ahypervisor). Additionally or alternatively, the modules and/or datadescribed herein may reside and/or execute within a virtualizationlayer. As used herein, the term “virtualization layer” generally refersto any data layer and/or application layer that overlays and/or isabstracted from an operating system environment. A virtualization layermay be managed by a software virtualization solution (e.g., a filesystem filter) that presents the virtualization layer as though it werepart of an underlying base operating system. For example, a softwarevirtualization solution may redirect calls that are initially directedto locations within a base file system and/or registry to locationswithin a virtualization layer.

In some examples, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1 mayrepresent portions of a mobile computing environment. Mobile computingenvironments may be implemented by a wide range of mobile computingdevices, including mobile phones, tablet computers, e-book readers,personal digital assistants, wearable computing devices (e.g., computingdevices with a head-mounted display, smartwatches, etc.), and the like.In some examples, mobile computing environments may have one or moredistinct features, including, for example, reliance on battery power,presenting only one foreground application at any given time, remotemanagement features, touchscreen features, location and movement data(e.g., provided by Global Positioning Systems, gyroscopes,accelerometers, etc.), restricted platforms that restrict modificationsto system-level configurations and/or that limit the ability ofthird-party software to inspect the behavior of other applications,controls to restrict the installation of applications (e.g., to onlyoriginate from approved application stores), etc. Various functionsdescribed herein may be provided for a mobile computing environmentand/or may interact with a mobile computing environment.

In addition, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1 mayrepresent portions of, interact with, consume data produced by, and/orproduce data consumed by one or more systems for information management.As used herein, the term “information management” may refer to theprotection, organization, and/or storage of data. Examples of systemsfor information management may include, without limitation, storagesystems, backup systems, archival systems, replication systems, highavailability systems, data search systems, virtualization systems, andthe like.

In some embodiments, all or a portion of example system 100 in FIG. 1may represent portions of, produce data protected by, and/or communicatewith one or more systems for information security. As used herein, theterm “information security” may refer to the control of access toprotected data. Examples of systems for information security mayinclude, without limitation, systems providing managed securityservices, data loss prevention systems, identity authentication systems,access control systems, encryption systems, policy compliance systems,intrusion detection and prevention systems, electronic discoverysystems, and the like.

According to some examples, all or a portion of example system 100 inFIG. 1 may represent portions of, communicate with, and/or receiveprotection from one or more systems for endpoint security. As usedherein, the term “endpoint security” may refer to the protection ofendpoint systems from unauthorized and/or illegitimate use, access,and/or control. Examples of systems for endpoint protection may include,without limitation, anti-malware systems, user authentication systems,encryption systems, privacy systems, spam-filtering services, and thelike.

The process parameters and sequence of steps described and/orillustrated herein are given by way of example only and can be varied asdesired. For example, while the steps illustrated and/or describedherein may be shown or discussed in a particular order, these steps donot necessarily need to be performed in the order illustrated ordiscussed. The various example methods described and/or illustratedherein may also omit one or more of the steps described or illustratedherein or include additional steps in addition to those disclosed.

While various embodiments have been described and/or illustrated hereinin the context of fully functional computing systems, one or more ofthese example embodiments may be distributed as a program product in avariety of forms, regardless of the particular type of computer-readablemedia used to actually carry out the distribution. The embodimentsdisclosed herein may also be implemented using software modules thatperform certain tasks. These software modules may include script, batch,or other executable files that may be stored on a computer-readablestorage medium or in a computing system. In some embodiments, thesesoftware modules may configure a computing system to perform one or moreof the example embodiments disclosed herein.

In addition, one or more of the modules described herein may transformdata, physical devices, and/or representations of physical devices fromone form to another. For example, one or more of the modules recitedherein may receive user and/or URL/domain data to be transformed,transform the user and/or URL/domain data to a risk score, output aresult of the transformation to a computing device, use the result ofthe transformation to perform a security action, and store the result ofthe transformation to a computing device. Additionally or alternatively,one or more of the modules recited herein may transform a processor,volatile memory, non-volatile memory, and/or any other portion of aphysical computing device from one form to another by executing on thecomputing device, storing data on the computing device, and/or otherwiseinteracting with the computing device.

The preceding description has been provided to enable others skilled inthe art to best utilize various aspects of the example embodimentsdisclosed herein. This example description is not intended to beexhaustive or to be limited to any precise form disclosed. Manymodifications and variations are possible without departing from thespirit and scope of the instant disclosure. The embodiments disclosedherein should be considered in all respects illustrative and notrestrictive. Reference should be made to the appended claims and theirequivalents in determining the scope of the instant disclosure.

Unless otherwise noted, the terms “connected to” and “coupled to” (andtheir derivatives), as used in the specification and claims, are to beconstrued as permitting both direct and indirect (i.e., via otherelements or components) connection. In addition, the terms “a” or “an,”as used in the specification and claims, are to be construed as meaning“at least one of.” Finally, for ease of use, the terms “including” and“having” (and their derivatives), as used in the specification andclaims, are interchangeable with and have the same meaning as the word“comprising.”

What is claimed is:
 1. A computer-implemented method for assessingsecurity risks of users of computer networks of organizations, at leasta portion of the method being performed by a computing device comprisingat least one processor, the method comprising: detecting, at a riskcomputing device, a location of a host electronically accessed by a usercomputing device, the host location comprising a network location andhaving an electronic address outside of a computer network of anorganization; identifying, at the risk computing device, a host usercredential sent to the host location from the user computing device;determining, at the risk computing device, that the host user credentialmatches an organization user credential associated with theorganization's computer network; calculating, at the risk computingdevice, a risk score for a user of the user computing device based onthe determination that the host user credential matches the organizationuser credential; determining, at the risk computing device, that theuser presents a security risk to the organization's computer networkbased on the risk score; and performing, at the risk computing device, asecurity action to protect the organization's computer network based onthe determination that the user presents a security risk to theorganization's computer network.
 2. The method of claim 1, wherein theorganization user credential comprises at least one of: an emailaddress; a password; a user identifier; an organization identifier; apublic key infrastructure certificate; a token; and a personalidentification number.
 3. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting thelocation of the host further comprises detecting, at the risk computingdevice, a uniform resource locator (URL) for the host location.
 4. Themethod of claim 3, wherein detecting the location of the host furthercomprises detecting, at the risk computing device, a hostname for theURL.
 5. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, at therisk computing device, that the user was logged onto the user computingdevice when the host location was electronically accessed by the usercomputing device.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprisingdetermining, at the risk computing device, that the user was logged intoa web gateway of the organization's computer network when the hostlocation was electronically accessed by the user computing device. 7.The method of claim 1, further comprising determining, at the riskcomputing device, that the organization user credential is associatedwith the user.
 8. The method of claim 1, further comprising determining,at the risk computing device, that the organization user credential isassociated with an additional user.
 9. The method of claim 1, furthercomprising: detecting, at the risk computing device, a location of anadditional host electronically accessed by the user computing device,the additional host location having an electronic address outside of theorganization's computer network; and determining, at the risk computingdevice, that the host user credential was sent to the additional hostlocation from the user computing device.
 10. The method of claim 1,further comprising: determining, at the risk computing device, that thehost location was electronically accessed by an additional usercomputing device; identifying, at the risk computing device, anadditional host user credential sent to the host location from theadditional user computing device; and determining, at the risk computingdevice, that the additional host user credential matches an additionalorganization user credential associated with the organization's computernetwork.
 11. The method of claim 1, further comprising calculating, atthe risk computing device, a risk score for the host location.
 12. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising determining, at the risk computingdevice, a type of credential corresponding to the organization usercredential; wherein calculating the risk score for the user furthercomprises utilizing a weight corresponding to the type of credential.13. The method of claim 1, wherein calculating the risk score for theuser further comprises utilizing a weight that is based on adetermination of a number of host user credentials sent to the hostlocation from the user computing device, each of the determined numberof host user credentials corresponding to a separate organization usercredential.
 14. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the host usercredential sent to the host location further comprises identifying thehost user credential in a query parameter at a URL for the hostlocation.
 15. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the host usercredential sent to the host location further comprises identifying thehost user credential in a hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) requestheader.
 16. The method of claim 1, wherein identifying the host usercredential sent to the host location further comprises decryptinginformation sent from the user computing device to the host location.17. A system for assessing security risks of users of computer networksof organizations, the system comprising: a detection module, stored inmemory, that detects, at a risk computing device, a location of a hostelectronically accessed by a user computing device, the host locationcomprising a network location and having an electronic address outsideof a computer network of an organization; an identification module,stored in memory, that identifies, at the risk computing device, a hostuser credential sent to the host location from the user computingdevice; a determination module, stored in memory, that determines, atthe risk computing device, that the host user credential matches anorganization user credential associated with the organization's computernetwork; a calculation module, stored in memory, that calculates, at therisk computing device, a risk score for a user of the user computingdevice based on the determination that the host user credential matchesthe organization user credential; and at least one physical processorthat executes the detection module, the identification module, thedetermination module, and the calculation module; wherein: thedetermination module further determines, at the risk computing device,that the user presents a security risk to the organization's computernetwork based on the risk score; the system further comprises a securitymodule, stored in memory, that performs, at the risk computing device, asecurity action to protect the organization's computer network based onthe determination that the user presents a security risk to theorganization's computer network; and the physical processor furtherexecutes the security module.
 18. A non-transitory computer-readablemedium comprising one or more computer-executable instructions that,when executed by at least one processor of a computing device, cause thecomputing device to: detect, at a risk computing device, a location of ahost electronically accessed by a user computing device, the hostlocation comprising a network location and having an electronic addressoutside of a computer network of an organization; identify, at the riskcomputing device, a host user credential sent to the host location fromthe user computing device; determine, at the risk computing device, thatthe host user credential matches an organization user credentialassociated with the organization's computer network; calculate, at therisk computing device, a risk score for a user of the user computingdevice based on the determination that the host user credential matchesthe organization user credential; determine, at the risk computingdevice, that the user presents a security risk to the organization'scomputer network based on the risk score; and perform, at the riskcomputing device, a security action to protect the organization'scomputer network based on the determination that the user presents asecurity risk to the organization's computer network.